Former Pop Warner coach held on $15,000 bail on sex assault charges

LEOMINSTER — The head of the Leominster Police Department's assault unit said there may be other victims of a former youth football coach charged with sexually assaulting a boy whom he had coached.

"Yes, I do believe there may be other victims," Leominster Police Lt. Michael Goldman said Monday afternoon.

Lt. Goldman referred all other questions to Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.

Former Pop Warner coach Benjamin B. Brause, 36, of 36 N. Main St., Apt. 2, was arraigned Monday in Leominster District Court on two counts of statutory rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. The incidents were said to have occurred from January 2010 to December 2012.

He was held on $15,000 cash bail.

Mr. Brause was arrested Friday night by Leominster police after an investigation by that department and the district attorney's office.

Mr. Brause coached Pop Warner youth football in Leominster from the 1990s through 2008, and in Lunenburg in 2009 and 2010.

According to court documents, the boy, who is now 17, was allegedly sexually assaulted by Mr. Brause at his apartment on North Main Street and in a Leominster parking lot. Mr. Brause allegedly showed the boy a pornographic video on at least one occasion and gave him alcohol before the assaults took place.

During his arraignment, Assistant District Attorney Courtney Price argued for $100,000 bail, citing the extreme seriousness of the charges.

The abuse, Ms. Price said, involved several incidents of oral sex and indecent assault and battery. Mr. Brause, she said, gave alcohol to the victim during some of the incidents.

Ms. Price also requested that Mr. Brause be put on GPS monitoring; that he stay away from and have no contact with Lunenburg High School, where the boy is currently enrolled; and also that he stay away from Leominster High School.

Additionally, she asked that Mr. Brause not be allowed to coach or mentor children, that he stay away and have no contact with children under the age of 18, and have no unsupervised contact with family members under the age of 18, including his 5-year-old nephew.

Judge Mark E. Noonan allowed all the conditions and set bail at $15,000.

Mr. Brause's lawyer, Michael P. McEvilly, of Leominster, said Mr. Brause would adhere to all conditions and could post bail that afternoon.

Mr. McEvilly said Mr. Brause's position as an electrician with Dynasty Electric in Rhode Island was still open and he could return to work today.

Mr. Brause is a 1996 Leominster High School graduate and has lived in the city his entire life, Mr. McEvilly said. He has worked as an electrician for 22 years and has no criminal record, he said.

Mr. Brause's father and other family members present for his arraignment would not comment.

Mr. Brause is due back in court May 1.

Investigators are asking anyone who wants to talk about their interactions with Mr. Brause during the years he coached to call the Leominster Police Department at (978) 534-4383.

Contact Paula Owen at powen@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @PaulaOwenTG